Unlucky London suitor Lefkos Hajji watched a small fortune and plans to ask for his beloved's hand in marriage vanish into thin air.
The 28 year-old floor-fitter lost a STG6,000 ($A13,000) engagement ring and possibly the affections of his girlfriend when the helium balloon in which he had concealed the ring was whipped from his hands by a gust of wind outside a shop.
"I just watched as it went further and further into the air," he told The Sun newspaper on Friday. "I felt like such a plonker. It cost a fortune and I knew my girlfriend would kill me."
Hajji, who had intended to get his 26 year-old girlfriend Leanne to pop the balloon to find the ring, spent two hours in his car giving chase without success.
"I thought I would give Leanne a pin so I could literally pop the question," he said. "But I had to tell her the story - she went absolutely mad. Now she is refusing to speak to me until I get her a new ring."
He is hoping the ring will still turn up.
"It would be amazing if someone found it," he added.
